DeFonda Virtue Dowdle Collier

Logan ? DeFonda Dowdle Collier, 98, passed away peacefully at the home of her son in Logan on Thursday, October 24, 2002. She was born September 1, 1904 in Newton, Utah to Robert Amos and Mary Ann Larsen Dowdle. . She was reared in Cache Valley, attending the local schools and graduating from South Cache High School with a love and appreciation for music that lasted throughout her life. She attended a summer session at Utah State Agricultural College in 1924, which influenced her passion for children?s literature. She married Theodore Collier on May 23, 1928 in the LDS Logan Temple. While raising her young family, she was instrumental in starting a young mothers book group organization in Salt Lake and this group has continued uninterrupted for more than 60 years. Her collection of children?s literature contains rare and out-of-print volumes and has been donated to the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University. DeFonda is survived by five children: Robert RaeAnn, Asheville, North Carolina.; Douglas Karen, Pocatello, Idaho; Grant Nola, Logan; Mary Alice David Eldredge, Wheat Ridge, Colorado; Mark Sally, Gilbert, South Carolina; 40 grandchildren and 74 great- grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband and two sons, David and Alan. Funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon on Monday, October 28, 2002 at the Logan 5th Ward Chapel, 501 East 300 North with Bishop Grant Collier conducting. Friends and family may call Sunday evening, October 27 at Nelson Funeral Home, 162 East 400 North, Logan, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Monday morning from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment will be in the Logan City Cemetery. Condolences may be extended online at www.nelsonfuneralhome.com .